


The Prophetess of Troy

by Delcesca_Newby



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6379480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delcesca_Newby/pseuds/Delcesca_Newby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>History claims she was mad. A beautiful woman cursed with future knowledge no one would ever believe. It was because she turned down the handsome Apollo, but there's more to her story; more to the reason the sun god made her life a living hell. Apollo's actions weren't just born of spite, but also of jealousy. A retelling of the woeful myth of Cassandra of Troy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Cassandra shifted the quiver slung over her left shoulder into a better position before she chased after her brothers. Her flaming red curls fell out of the braid she'd allowed Polyxena to give her that morning and they tumbled down her back in a thick cascade. As she ran down the slope, following her brothers who were heading toward the forest beyond the horse stables, she let out a peal of laughter at the rush of joy she felt as the cool summer wind wiped around her and the beautiful sun warmed her milky white skin.  
The sound alerted her brothers to her approach and the three stopped to face her.  
"What do you think you're doing?" Deiphobus asked, his voice thick with barely concealed irritation. He tapped his foot and every couple of seconds looked in the direction of the stables.  
"You three are going hunting, right?" Cassandra asked, and nodded at the various weapons her brothers carried.  
"Yes, we are," Polites said, and then glanced at Deiphobus; seeming unsure if he'd spoken out of turn. Deiphobus didn't appear to have heard him, or he hadn't cared to pay attention.  
“I want to come with you," Cassandra said.  
"You're a princess of Troy, Cassandra. Getting covered in sweat and dirt isn't becoming of one of such high status. You don't see Mother or Ilione doing such things. Even young Polyxena knows that certain activities are inappropriate."  
"I can always take a bath and make myself look presentable when we're finished," Cassandra said.  
"Hunting isn't a trait your future husband is going to admire," Deiphobus insisted.  
"You never know," Cassandra quipped, adjusting the bow she’d stolen from Polites years ago (he had so many, he hadn’t noticed) so she could take a more intimidating stance.  
"It's not something I would admire," Deiphobus said, unrelenting.  
"Good thing I'm not going to marry you then," Cassandra said. She caught the mischievous glint in her twin brother Helenus's eyes and smiled at him briefly before replacing her amused look with one of crushing disappointment. She batted her long lashes and stuck out her bottom lip. "Come on. Please," she begged Deiphobus.  
"I think we should let her," Helenus chimed in, barely hiding his grin behind his hand. He had to turn his head so Deiphobus wouldn't see and reprimand him.  
"Of course you do," Polites mumbled, speaking from the corner of his thin lips like their mother did when she couldn't hold her tongue but hoped her comments would go unnoticed.  
"You would only hold us up, and possibly ruin every kill we come across," Deiphobus said, ignoring his brothers.  
"You just don't want me to go because you know I'll make you look bad," Cassandra accused. "Like the last three times."  
"The gods showered favor on you those times," Deiphobus growled. "They were mystified by your beauty."  
Cassandra rolled her eyes. Deiphobus had been using that reasoning whenever Cassandra outshined him since they were young children. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the truth that she might have inherited some of the very same skills he was fond of boasting about, and that she might be as good at executing those skills as he was. A young lady, especially a princess, in Deiphobus's mind, should strive to be as helpless and dainty as larkspur.  
He was certainly a son of Priam.  
"Fine, that's what happened. So why don't you take this chance to prove yourself right?" Cassandra challenged, stepping on her tiptoes to get face-to-face with Deiphobus. She made her gaze as serious and menacing as she could; had to force herself to his stern level. In response, her brother's hard blue glare bored into her skull, but Cassandra didn't back down. Their wills clashed like two storms, neither yielding in their pursuit for dominance.  
"If you attempt to go with us, I will drag you back to the palace and pull every strand of hair out of your head," Deiphobus threatened in his deep voice after a lengthy, chilling silence.  
"How terrifying," Cassandra teased. She poked her brother in his wide shoulders. "Your old age is making you soft."  
Deiphobus grumbled something unintelligible, brushed his unruly blond curls off his forehead, and turned away from Cassandra. He started to march purposefully toward the stables. "Are you two idiots coming along?" he called back to Helenus and Polites.  
Polites shrugged. "Maybe next time," he offered listlessly to Cassandra before he took off after Deiphobus; his long legs easily carrying him across the vibrant grass.  
Helenus sighed and shook his head. "Deiphobus is a brat," he said. "I don't think I want to spend the afternoon with him."  
"You know you'll have fun. Go do it," Cassandra told him.  
"No, I wouldn't feel right. Maybe the two of us should go hunt—"  
"Brother, I don't want you to miss out on a good time for the sake of pitying me."  
Helenus stared longingly after their older brothers. A sigh escaped his full lips. A second later he realized what he did and wiped the expression from his handsome face. "I don't offer out of pity," he said, sincerity pouring out of the light blue eyes that were exactly the same shade as Cassandra's, except hers had green flecks around the pupils, something she'd inherited from their mother.  
"I know you don't," Cassandra said, lovingly patting her brother's arm.  
Helenus chewed his cheek as he mulled over his options. "Well, I won't be out for very long," he told her. "And we'll do something together when I get back. How’s that?"  
"Great," Cassandra said. She kissed her twin's cheek and gently shoved him in the direction their brothers had headed. "Make sure to enjoy yourself."  
Helenus wrapped her in a tight hug. "I will," he said. He let her go and started for the horses, but stopped a moment later. "Don't you dare go out into the forest by yourself," he warned, without glancing at her.  
Cassandra made a noise that she hoped sounded like compliance and then sprinted across grounds so that she wouldn't have to flat-out lie to her twin brother, the person who knew her like no other. She climbed the outer surrounding wall of the palace after tying the abundant material of her jade green gown above her knees, and entered the tall trees. She kept her footsteps silent and her breathing even like her eldest brother Hector had taught her. She was almost as good as Hector at blending into the natural rhythm of the forest. Nine times out of ten Cassandra knew she could sneak up on whatever animal she had in her sights and the creature wouldn't know she was there until it was too late for the animal to scurry off.  
Her patience and natural talent had led to many successful kills, some of which had stunned Hector and Helenus, but Cassandra had never mentioned a word of her ability to her father. Sure, he knew of her escapades, and he had tried on countless occasions to get her to stop, but he had no idea that his daughter put all the men of Troy but her brothers to shame in marksmanship. She was afraid what would happen if he knew, afraid of the extremes he may go to, to make her the proper princess that he could use to woo enemies or strengthen already forged bonds.  
She understood this fact and even accepted her reality. There were times, though, when Cassandra wished she could come back from a hunt, proud of some magnificent beast she'd triumphed over, and have her father beam at her with unembarrassed love and appreciation. In her secret heart, she longed for the pelt of an animal she'd hunted to hang in the King's game room alongside her brothers'. Why did the sex between her legs have to keep her from the joy of a hobby her brothers so easily took for granted?   
Cassandra pondered this as she crept further into the forest. The trees swayed to the music of the sweet breeze that blew. Birds chased each other through the branches; their ecstatic songs filling Cassandra's ears. She inhaled the rich scents of growth and her mood brightened at the brief glimpses of unbridled life taking place around her. If she could live in here, free of the chains royalty had shackled her with, she would have the perfect existence.  
She didn't hate being a princess of Troy. For the most part she was happy, had a loving family, and had participated in a lot of things in her seventeen years she was sure other young women in her position would never be able to. But the knowledge that her father had the power to marry her off to whomever he deemed fit, regardless of Cassandra's attraction to him, made her think that maybe her entire life to this point would turn out to be nothing more than a teasing dream. What if her future husband was a horribly abusive man? What if he was no better than a pig wallowing in its own filth? How would she be able to stand beside, and bare children for, a man like that?  
There is always the servitude to a temple, Cassandra thought; frowning at the option. From what she'd seen and had heard, it was no better than being married to a monster of a man. Maybe she was better off sneaking away in the dead of night and running as far from Troy as she could get. Wherever she collapsed from exhaustion would be where she began a new, simple life.  
It was a nice idea, but Cassandra could never abandon her family. They were all she had, all she knew, and despite some glaring faults, they were good people she was grateful to have.  
Something to Cassandra's left caught her attention and she froze. She slowly turned to get a better glimpse of it, and had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping. She was not ten feet from the largest wolf she'd ever seen. It was at least as long as two adult men were tall and its head would come up high on her chest if she stood next to it. It had a thick, long coat that looked more golden than white in the sunlight falling through the leaves.  
The wolf was beautiful, completely unaware of being watched as it scratched at something with its long black nails in the dirt. In an instant, the need to have it consumed Cassandra. She would not go home until she had made the creature succumb to her superiority. And its fur would be the greatest display in the King's game room, even if Helenus had to be the one to claim the kill as his own.  
Cassandra sent a silent thanks to the gods as she selected an arrow, readied her bow, and forced her nerves to quiet. She took two deep breaths like Hector had made her do before each shot when he’d trained her. When she felt grounded and calm, she lined up the shot and drew back her bow.  
The wolf remained blissfully ignorant of its impending doom as she let her arm go all at once with the confidence borne from years of practice. The arrow flew swiftly as it made a straight path for the wolf's exposed neck. The sharpened arrowhead embedded itself easily into the animal's flesh, causing the wolf to cry out with an almost human-like scream.  
Cassandra prepared to shoot it a second time, but stopped when the wolf's head snapped around to look at her. She met its eyes, eyes that were two all-consuming balls of white fire. They flared a blinding red as the animal glared at her and flashed a mouthful of dangerous teeth. From the neck wound Cassandra had given it, she noticed a shiny gold liquid dripping around the arrowhead onto the forest floor.  
Her jaw dropped and Cassandra's heart missed a beat. The wolf she thought she would be bragging about tonight was anything but. In her excited haste, she hadn't studied the creature thoroughly enough. She hadn't given as much thought as she should have to its abnormal size or strange coloring. If she had, she wouldn't have been so eager to go in for the kill.  
She wouldn't have unknowingly attacked a god.


	2. Chapter 2

Cassandra shook like a leaf in a strong gust of wind as she dropped her bow and watched with wide eyes as the wolf stood upright on its huge back paws. Its eyelids dropped as its fur rippled like water in a stream, and the outline of the beast pulsed with a breathtakingly white light. Cassandra realized what was happening and looked away barely in time to avoid going blind.  
An unnatural warm gust of air slammed into her as the god took a new form. The surrounding area grew eerily quiet as a high pitched hiss erupted from the god. Cassandra hugged herself and rocked on her heels. Deep in her heart, she feared she wouldn't be leaving the forest except to take eternal residence in the Underworld.  
The warmth faded seconds later, the hiss disappeared, and the sounds of the forest crept back. Without chancing a look at the god, Cassandra dropped to her knees. "Please, I beg of you, don't do anything to harm my family," she cried. "I deserve your wrath, not them. Please! Please grant me that mercy."  
"Rise, mortal," the god said, his voice oddly soft, though it seemed to come from all directions, engulfing Cassandra with its silkiness.  
Cassandra kept her trembling to a minimum as she rose to her feet.  
"Look at me and tell me the truth," the god demanded. "Did you try to hurt me with some twisted idea that you could tame a god; turn me into a puppet?"  
For the first time in her life, Cassandra gazed at a god. He was simply dressed, his robes as red as a rose with a delicate gold pattern on the fringe. The god's jaw was perfectly square, his large nose straight, and his cheekbones were high and pronounced. His luminous hazel eyes softened his otherwise harsh features and had such depth that Cassandra thought she would never be able to look away, not that she honestly wanted to.  
The god was young in appearance, fit with obvious lean muscle. Cassandra knew him well, though she had never met him. His statue in his temple was an exact replica, and she had spent countless hours talking to it; believing her prayers and appreciation were heard.  
"Answer me," the sun god Apollo said when the silence had dragged on too long.  
"No, I would never do that," Cassandra said, regaining some composure. "I merely lacked good judgment. I'm so sorry, and I beg you again, please don't—"  
"Be quiet. Your family is safe."  
The tightness in Cassandra's chest lessened. "Oh, thank you, my Lord!" she declared, feeling close to tears.  
"There is still you to deal with, though," Apollo said, thoughtful; his words a cold splash on Cassandra's brief joy. He ran long, nimble fingers through his shoulder-length golden hair.  
"As long as my family is safe do whatever you see fit," she said.  
"Hmm…" Apollo mumbled. His fingers moved over his neck, pausing at the spot that Cassandra had struck him. A sudden idea brightened his eyes to the point that they glowed. "From your aim, I would say you're well experienced with the hunt," he said.  
Cassandra nodded; her stomach turning. What was the god thinking? What twisted, terrible things would she endure before he claimed her life? She knew she deserved whatever punishment he could dream up, but she couldn't help but hope he'd strike her with a single, deadening blow and get it over with.  
Apollo's mouth opened and Cassandra braced herself for her fate, her death sentence, but the god shocked her by saying, "It's been a good day for me, so I'm willing to offer you a chance at redemption, if you'll take it."  
"What?" Cassandra asked, hearing her eagerness and cringing. If she kept this up, she was sure she would upset the god so much he would forget what he'd just said and, instead, slowly melt the flesh from her bones.  
"We're going to compete to see who has the greater skill with the bow," Apollo explained, unfazed by her outburst. "The first to kill game of moderate value or the one to have the best after five minutes is the winner. If I win, you die. If you win, you may leave this forest without fear of my vengeance."  
"That is beyond generous of you. You're too kind," Cassandra said, meaning every word. "But—"  
"There's a but?" Apollo asked, seeming genuinely surprised.  
Cassandra gulped. She was walking a thin line. "Yes, well…that is—can I suggest something?" she murmured.  
Apollo, gratefully, looked unruffled as he shrugged. "Why not?"  
Cassandra licked her lips as her courage built. When she felt sure of herself, she asked, "Do you believe it would be a fair testimony to your greatness if you matched your godliness to my mere mortal limitations? Wouldn't it seem to be more of an insult to you?"  
"It may…" Apollo said, an edge creeping into his melodious tone.  
"I mean no disrespect," Cassandra continued on, dropping her eyes to his chest; hoping her voice was suitably meek and compliant, "when I say I think the competition would be better if you pretended to be mortal, didn't use any of your powers."  
"What sort of trickery is this?" Apollo snapped, suspicion twisting his features.  
"I swear, it's not," Cassandra told him.  
Apollo glared at her for a second, but she stood firm and nonthreatening. His face softened into a neutral expression and his attention turned inward. Cassandra waited as patiently as she could as the sun god mulled over her proposal. As the minutes ticked away, Cassandra grew worried that she had gone too far, had added insult to injury by trying to alter Apollo's rather gracious offer, and that he was now plotting the most dreadful way to kill her.  
It terrified her, her inevitable end, but at least her siblings and parents wouldn't suffer because of her. Cassandra could die somewhat peacefully with her conscious free of that.  
"Your request is acceptable," Apollo finally said, and Cassandra expelled out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "I'll be as mortal as a man for our competition."  
"Swear on the River Styx," Cassandra added.  
Something glinted in Apollo's eyes, maybe amusement, or maybe infuriation. "I swear on The Styx that for five minutes any powers I posses that make me more than a man will be nonexistent," he said.  
"Thank you, my Lord," Cassandra said, curtsying.  
Apollo smirked and tied back his hair with a piece of cloth he hadn't had a moment before. Then he held out his hand. A bright flash came from his palm and when it was gone the god held a bow that looked like it was made of pure gold, slick and unmarked. A quiver appeared slung over his shoulder.  
"Ready yourself," he told Cassandra, seeming relaxed and prepared for an enjoyable time.  
Cassandra's heart began to race. He was so confident, so sure that for a second Cassandra considered not even trying. Who was she to believe that she could possibly hold her own with one of the Twin Archers? Apollo had practically started using a bow and arrow the moment he'd been born; it was one of the god's greatest passions.  
But the thought of giving up settled like a sick fog on Cassandra's soul. What would Hector and Helenus think if they knew she had gone out a pathetic coward? How would Cassandra be able to shamelessly greet them in the afterlife when their time came to join her if she didn't meet her fate with every ounce of courage she had?  
No, Cassandra would give it her all, and die with pride. She took a moment to calm her nerves, and when she felt better she picked up her bow. She met Apollo's intense stare.  
"I'm ready," she said.  
Apollo nodded. "We begin…now," he said, and took off into the woods as quick as a startled deer. Cassandra was impressed. Even without his powers, his speed made Polites, one of the fastest runners Troy had ever seen, look as slow as a mongrel on its last leg.  
Cassandra followed after him, figuring that she wouldn't be able to find anything in the immediate area they'd been in; all potential game had been scared away by Apollo's loud transformation. She tried to step carefully as she ran, but she was finding it hard to focus. What if she couldn't find anything? What if—?  
"Stop," Cassandra breathed, slowing her steps. She couldn't, though. Her thoughts swirled around her head, making her jittery and anxiety-ridden. Nothing in all her hunting experience could have prepared her for something like this, and time was running out. Two minutes, at least, had passed. What was she going to do?  
As she tried to come up with a plan, Cassandra continued to head in the direction Apollo had gone. She wildly searched for an animal as she went along, but nothing caught her attention. What was she going to do? How could she find a way to possibly win this?  
Cassandra slowed down as she saw Apollo in the distance, poised with his bow string strung as he watched a large bird in a tree close to him. Where she stood, Cassandra couldn't dream of shooting the bird before Apollo, and that seemed like a very bad idea anyway. But she couldn't let him get it.  
She spotted a rock beside her foot and a notion came to her. She picked it up and crept toward the god. She was far from quiet, but Apollo seemed too consumed with the task at hand to pay any mind to her obvious approach. Cassandra paused just behind him, ignored the voice in her head screaming that she was being stupid, and launched the rock at the bird. She missed her target, but the rock did hit the branch it stood on.  
The bird squawked in surprise and outrage and flew away.  
Apollo cursed, threw her a look that might have turned her to ash if he'd been all god in that moment, and hurried deeper into the woods. Cassandra was behind him, keeping up the best she could. If she couldn't get an animal, she was going to make sure he wouldn't either.  
The sun god tried two more times to get something and Cassandra thwarted him on each occasion. The last time he screamed something unintelligible at her and turned his bow on her. He aimed at her chest, right at her heart, but didn't strike. Apollo just stood there, and Cassandra figured he was going to wait until the time ran out and then shoot.  
"Twenty. Nineteen," Apollo breathed, counting down; watching her fear mount with maddening glee.  
Cassandra couldn't look at him. Instead, she stared at her toes, silently sending out goodbyes that her loved ones would never hear. At least she had tried her best, for the most part. She had some dignity left, enough to satisfy her. That's all someone could ask for in their final moments, right?  
"Eight…seven…" Apollo continued.  
Hopefully Apollo would leave her body recognizable, so that her family would be able to find it and get closure. She should have asked for that, had made him promise her. Could she do that now? Was it too much? Would enraging him more possibly make her death worse?  
"Two…one," Apollo said, his hand twitching as he was about to release the arrow.  
Cassandra sighed, doing her best to come to terms with what was about to happen. She noticed something wiggling next to her sandal just then. Inspiration made her bend over and cupped it so it sat neatly in her hands. She couldn't help but smile with sudden optimism as she met Apollo's puzzled gaze.  
"I think I won," she told him and held out her game.


	3. Chapter 3

Apollo leaned forward, gazed at Cassandra's game, and frowned. "Are you serious?" he asked.  
"Yes, I am," Cassandra said, knowing she was taking a huge risk.  
"This doesn't count."  
"And why not?"  
"It's a worm!" Apollo cried. "Worms are nothing. Useless cre—"  
"No, they're not," Cassandra said. She tried to keep her tone respectful and her body language nonthreatening. "They're used by fishermen and eaten by many animals. Without them, many things would not be alive; many things that you and I may have hunted in the past. I agree that worms are not game that you would technically get on a hunt, but they aren't, usually, easy to obtain. It does take skill to gather them. I just lucked out."  
"That logic is…weak," Apollo muttered, glaring at the worm thrashing about in Cassandra's hands. "And even if I allowed that, you still lose because you cheated."  
"I did not," Cassandra argued gently. "If you're talking about my thwarting your attempts, it was never stated that we couldn't do that to one another."  
"You're a bold one," Apollo said, his voice dripping with displeasure.  
"I'm not trying to insult you, my Lord," Cassandra said, fearful she'd gone too far. Her heart began to pound again and sweat beaded along her hairline.  
Apollo's face flushed red and he opened his mouth twice, but didn't utter a word. He breathed heavily and Cassandra could have sworn steam drifted out of his ears. The air around them began to grow hot and uncomfortable.  
He was going to burn her alive, but maybe she deserved such a wretched end. Maybe this was the consequence for testing fate.  
"I have had a good day," Apollo muttered, and instantly his demeanor changed and the temperature returned to normal. The rage left his face and the sun god flashed Cassandra a dazzling smile. "I will let you live, mortal."  
"Oh," Cassandra coughed; her head spinning from his rapid transformation from vengeful Olympian to good-natured god.  
Her surprise made Apollo laugh as he plucked the worm out of her hands and dropped it to the ground. "I find you amusing," he said as an explanation, wiping his dirtied fingers on his robes. "Plus, you have a face to rival Aphrodite. It would be a shame to rid the world of such beauty. I would never hear the end of it."  
"Thank you," Cassandra said, still finding it hard to grasp that the Fates were favoring her today. It was unbelievable and she didn't know why she was so worthy, but she didn't dare question their actions out loud. They may hear her and think she was spitting on their generosity and decide to take it back.  
Apollo snapped his fingers and his hunting gear vanished and a gorgeous golden chair materialized behind him. He sat down causally. "What is your name, mortal?" he asked.  
"Cassandra, my Lord."  
"Cassandra of Troy, the daughter of Priam?"  
"Yes."  
"I don't like your mother very much," Apollo said unexpectedly.  
"She is an acquired taste," Cassandra said.  
"I don't know if you've gone through life thinking I have blessed you and your twin brother, but that is completely untrue. I can't understand where your mother got the idea," Apollo said with a roll of his eyes.  
Cassandra's face broke into a smile. "Oh, I know how she stretches the truth," she told him, easily bringing to mind the very thing he spoke of.   
Ever since she and Helenus had been young children, Hecuba had been claiming that Apollo had sent snakes to clean her twins' ears the night she'd left them in the sun god's temple. She loved to tell anyone that would listen how her children were going to grow up and be great mortals that all the gods would fawn over.  
Cassandra had never given it much thought, looked at her mother's words as harmless babble, and ignored her like everyone else in the palace.  
"She's lucky I find her delusions amusing," Apollo said, his threat thinly veiled. Cassandra wondered if he wanted her to pass the message on to her mother, but she didn't dare ask. "So why do you spend your time hunting? Are you planning on impressing my sister with hopes to be granted the opportunity to become a Huntress? I have to tell you, it's a very boring existence running around with her and avoiding the pleasures only a man can bring a woman. It's a waste, really."  
"Hunting is my hobby, my way to express myself freely from the confines that being a princess has brought," Cassandra said.  
"You haven't sworn off men or the prospect of marriage?"  
"Not yet, at least."  
"The thought has crossed your mind, though."  
"I believe it crosses every young maiden's mind at least once, especially those in my position," Cassandra said, hoping she didn't sound ungrateful for the kindness that had been bestowed upon her to live such a life of privilege.  
"You may be right," Apollo said, "but I wouldn't know much about that, now would I?"  
Cassandra shook her head.  
"Who was the one—"  
Apollo abruptly stopped speaking and tilted his head back to look at the sky. He sighed, stood up, and the chair disappeared. "Can I walk you to the edge of the forest?" he asked.  
"Uh, sure," Cassandra said.  
Apollo marched past her and she almost had to run to catch up with him. The god didn't seem to notice that he was moving too fast and Cassandra didn't utter a word of complaint. With how quickly his moods could shift, Cassandra didn't feel safe that he would stick to his decision to let her continue breathing if she made him upset. And, besides, she didn't mind moving so briskly. It wasn't the first time she'd had to keep up with someone who appeared lost in his own world.  
"Who was the one to get you interested in hunting?" Apollo asked.  
"My brother Hector," Cassandra said fondly. "He taught me everything I know and has encouraged me like no other person I know, to not let the limitations of my station keep me from pursuing a happy life."  
"You love him very much."  
"Yes," Cassandra declared brazenly. "Admittedly, he's been more like a father to me than my actual father."  
Apollo seemed to mull over her answer as their feet quickly ate up the forest floor. The god walked with sure steps. He trotted over roots and ducked under branches without seeming to think about it. Cassandra sensed he knew the area as if he'd roamed it a thousand times.  
He most likely had.  
"Will you let your skill go to waste once you have a husband and a horde of children?" Apollo asked.  
"Why, my Lord, are you so fixated on the thought of me and marriage?" Cassandra couldn't stop herself from blurting.  
"It's what is currently on my mind. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?"  
"No. It's just uncommon for me to speak about this with anyone that isn't Helenus or my sisters, especially with a god."  
"Do you believe I have an ulterior motive?"  
"Do you?" Cassandra countered.  
One of Apollo's eyebrows lifted at her question. A second later he grinned wickedly. "Oh, by now you would have figured out if I had an ulterior motive." He laughed at the look of disbelief Cassandra couldn't hide. "No, Cassandra of Troy, I don't want you as my wife," he assured her. "I can do better."  
"Better than a beauty that rivals Aphrodite?"  
"I was being kind," Apollo said.  
"Why thank you, my Lord," Cassandra quipped. "You know how to insult like no other."  
Apollo let out a wonderful, full-bodied laugh that somehow complimented the sounds of the forest. It washed over Cassandra like the summer sun, leaving her deliciously warm and happy. It was hard not to be overtaken by the allure of the god. Though he was quick to anger and as unpredictable as the ocean, there was something about him that Cassandra identified with. Could it just be how gods presented themselves to mortals they didn't want to intimidate? Or was there more to it than that? Did the two of them have something in common that connected them on a deeper level?  
As Cassandra thought over her questions they reached the spot Cassandra recognized as where she'd entered the forest at. She masked her surprise as Apollo stopped and turned to her.  
"I've enjoyed my time with you very much," he said.  
"I find it hard to believe that I can agree."  
"I would love to see how well your actual skill is; if you can get something other than worms," Apollo said, a smirk on his lips. "Would you like to join me when I can spare moments to spend with you?"  
"Yes, I would," Cassandra said with honest anticipation at the idea.  
"Good," Apollo said like he'd been expecting that answer. "On the days I wish to hunt you will find my message to you on your pillow that morning. Join up with me in the place where we first met before the sun reaches the middle of the sky."  
"I shall."  
"Then good-bye, Cassandra of Troy. I'm glad you shot me," Apollo said, his body turning transparent.  
"Good-bye, my Lord," Cassandra said as the sun god faded from sight. She stared at the spot where he'd been standing for a second, smiled softly, and then left the forest.  
"Oh, thank the gods. There you are!" a voice shouted the moment she stepped out of the shadows of the trees.  
Cassandra looked in its direction and was greeted by the sight of Helenus running toward her.  
"Did you follow me?" she asked her brother.  
"No. Well, yes, sort of. But not for the reason you think," Helenus told her, breathing heavily as he stood before her.  
"So it has nothing to do with the fact that I disobeyed your orders?"  
"I said that more on principle than anything else," Helenus said with a laugh. "No, I've been looking for you because Polites spotted dark clouds on the horizon and I didn't want you to get caught in the storm."  
"That's very thoughtful of you," Cassandra said, starting for the palace.  
Helenus trailed behind her. "What did you do in there? See anything interesting?"  
Cassandra's lips parted and she almost told Helenus about Apollo, but she stopped the words before they left her mouth. Apollo probably didn't want her saying anything about it, and Cassandra wasn't sure if her brother would actually believe her. He would listen with an open mind and a nonjudgmental heart, but he would most likely write off her confession as a reaction to lack of water or a bump to the head.  
No, she would keep Apollo a secret, at least for now.  
"Not really," Cassandra lied with as much conviction as she could muster. "It was quite dull; nothing to speak about."  
"What a shame," Helenus sighed.  
"What a shame," Cassandra agreed, keeping her face neutral as excitement exploded inside her chest. "What a shame, indeed."


End file.
